Housing first on a large scale: Fidelity strengths and challenges in the VA's HUD-VASH program.

Housing First (HF) combines permanent supportive housing and supportive services for homeless individuals and removes traditional treatment-related preconditions for housing entry. There has been little research describing strengths and shortfalls of HF implementation outside of research demonstration projects. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has transitioned to an HF approach in a supportive housing program serving over 85,000 persons. This offers a naturalistic window to study fidelity when HF is adopted on a large scale. We operationalized HF into 20 criteria grouped into 5 domains. We assessed 8 VA medical centers twice (1 year apart), scoring each criterion using a scale ranging from 1 (low fidelity) to 4 (high fidelity). There were 2 HF domains (no preconditions and rapidly offering permanent housing) for which high fidelity was readily attained. There was uneven progress in prioritizing the most vulnerable clients for housing support. Two HF domains (sufficient supportive services and a modern recovery philosophy) had considerably lower fidelity. Interviews suggested that operational issues such as shortfalls in staffing and training likely hindered performance in these 2 domains. In this ambitious national HF program, the largest to date, we found substantial fidelity in focusing on permanent housing and removal of preconditions to housing entry. Areas of concern included the adequacy of supportive services and adequacy in deployment of a modern recovery philosophy. Under real-world conditions, large-scale implementation of HF is likely to require significant additional investment in client service supports to assure that results are concordant with those found in research studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Results of a Regional Effort to Improve Warfarin Management.

BACKGROUND: Improved anticoagulation control with warfarin reduces adverse events and represents a target for quality improvement. No previous study has described an effort to improve anticoagulation control across a health system. OBJECTIVE: To describe the results of an effort to improve anticoagulation control in the New England region of the Veterans Health Administration (VA). METHODS: Our intervention encompassed 8 VA sites managing warfarin for more than 5000 patients in New England (Veterans Integrated Service Network 1 [VISN 1]). We provided sites with a system to measure processes of care, along with targeted audit and feedback. We focused on processes of care associated with site-level anticoagulation control, including prompt follow-up after out-of-range international normalized ratio (INR) values, minimizing loss to follow-up, and use of guideline-concordant INR target ranges. We used a difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine changes in anticoagulation control, measured as percentage time in therapeutic range (TTR), as well as process measures and compared VISN 1 sites with 116 VA sites located outside VISN 1. RESULTS: VISN 1 sites improved on TTR, our main indicator of quality, from 66.4% to 69.2%, whereas sites outside VISN 1 improved from 65.9% to 66.4% (DID 2.3%, P < 0.001). Improvement in TTR correlated strongly with the extent of improvement on process-of-care measures, which varied widely across VISN 1 sites. CONCLUSIONS: A regional quality improvement initiative, using performance measurement with audit and feedback, improved TTR by 2.3% more than control sites, which is a clinically important difference. Improving relevant processes of care can improve outcomes for patients receiving warfarin.

How Hospitals Reengineer Their Discharge Processes to Reduce Readmissions.

BACKGROUND: The Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) program is a hospital-based initiative shown to decrease hospital reutilization. We implemented the RED in 10 hospitals to study the implementation process. DESIGN: We recruited 10 hospitals from different regions of the United States to implement the RED and provided training for participating hospital leaders and implementation staff using the RED Toolkit as the basis of the curriculum followed by monthly telephone-based technical assistance for up to 1 year. METHODS: Two team members interviewed key informants from each hospital before RED implementation and then 1 year later. Interview data were analyzed according to common and comparative themes identified across institutions. Readmission outcomes were collected on participating hospitals and compared pre- versus post-RED implementation. RESULTS: Key findings included (1) wide variability in the fidelity of the RED intervention; (2) engaged leadership and multidisciplinary implementation teams were keys to success; (3) common challenges included obtaining timely follow-up appointments, transmitting discharge summaries to outpatient clinicians, and leveraging information technology. Eight out of 10 hospitals reported improvement in 30-day readmission rates after RED implementation. CONCLUSIONS: A supportive hospital culture is essential for successful RED implementation. A flexible implementation strategy can be used to implement RED and reduce readmissions.

Provider perspectives on and experiences with engagement of patients and families in implementing patient-centered care.

OBJECTIVE: To study of the efforts of four Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers to engage patients and families in patient-centered care (PCC) transformation. METHODS: Interviews with 107 providers/employees involved in implementation of PCC innovations. Coding used a mixed inductive-deductive approach. RESULTS: Patient and family engagement was considered to be a key element of the design and implementation of PCC innovations. Participants identified formal (e.g., advisory committees, walkthroughs), and informal (e.g., real-time feedback, discussions) methods of engaging patients and families. Asking patients and families what matters most shaped effective, targeted interventions. Participants noted providing a venue for patients and families to engage with planning often became an intervention itself. CONCLUSION: Participants felt that patient and family involvement were beneficial for planning and implementing PCC innovations. Patients and families offer a unique perspective and key understanding of Veterans' needs, and allow employees/providers to discover unexpected outcomes. Offering multiple engagement options maximizes patients and families involved and ensures feedback is sought from a variety of sources.